High net migration combined with a housing shortage is making London even less affordable, says Laurence Fredricks

London is an expensive place for renters. I live in a one bed flat in Zone 2 with my boyfriend and nearly £2000 a month from our salaries goes in rent. In my first year of living in London in 2023, we moved no less than three times in pursuit of affordable rent. One of those moves was prompted by an increase in our rent of £500 a month – we liked that flat, but we resignedly packed up our boxes and moved on. Many Londoners reading this will have had very similar experiences.

At Onward, Martin Seiffarth and I have put together an experimental model that looks at one reason why rent is so expensive in the capital and attempts to put a price on it – immigration. Lots of migrants want to come and work in London, for the same reasons that made me leave Southport and make this city my home. It is dense with economic opportunities, many of which just can’t be found elsewhere in the country.

But London........

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